Method of and machine for finishing fabric



S. COHN ET AL METHOD OF AND MACHINE FOR FINISHING FABRIC March 12, 1940.

Filed Jan. 2, 1937 l VENTOR/L w ATTORNEY Patented Mar. 12, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE METHOD OF AND MACHINE FOR FINISHING FABRIC "of New York Application January 2,

8 Claims.

The present method and machine are adapted for finishing fabrics. The present machine may be successfully used for finishing knitted, tubular fabric, which is more difficult to finish properly than a woven fabric because of its structural characteristics, that is to say, a knitted fabric is generally made either of one thread of yarn or a comparatively low number of threads or yarns formed with interlocking loops so that the fabric is very springy and is subject to'change in its lateral dimensions whenever the longitudinal dimension of the fabric is changed, and conversely, it is subject to a rather wide range of variations in length when it expands or contracts laterally.

Some fabrics are knitted with a loose stitch,

whereas others are knitted with a comparatively tight stitch. There are also what are known as novelty fabrics wherein the ground-work is interspersed with lacing stitches which are comparatively open. Some knitted fabrics are made with silk threads and others with cotton or wool or mixed yarns, and the sprlnginess of the fabric may vary considerably .because of the, different character of thread or yarn from which it is made. All of these factorsmake it far more difiicult to handle knitted tubular fabric than woven fabric but under the present invention fabrics having all the variations stated above may be handled and the product may be brought out uniform at the completion of the finishing operation.

The operation of finishing fabrics, and especially knitted tubular fabrics, consists of forcing steam or vapor through the fabric while held in an extended condition. With many fabrics it is desirable, if not a necessity, to subject the fabric to a plurality of finishing operations and heretofore wherever the fabric has required a second or any greater number of finishing operations, it was customary to put the fabric through a finishing machine, wind the fabric into a roll after the first finishing operation, and then pass the fabric a second time or a third time, etc., as the case may be, through the finishing machine to accomplish the second or other number of finishing operations. This required manual handling of the fabric two or more times.

' The object of our invention is to make it possible to pass the fabric once through a machine which has a plurality of finishing devices so that in one run of the fabric through themachine two or more complete finishing operations may be carried out, thereby eliminating the extra time and labor required under former methods. With the present machine the fabric is only handled once, notwithstanding that two or more finishing 1937, Serial No. 118,884

operations may be performed before the fabric is wound up into a roll ready for market.

In order to have a plurality of finishing devices operating in tandem, it is necessary to control the operation of fabric propelling means in the plurality of finishing devices so that the lateral and longitudinal tension upon the fabric will be uniform throughout the finishing operations. It is also necessary to control this tension for different fabrics. We provide for this in the present machine by having means for controlling the speed of the fabric propelling portions of one machine automatically controlled in relation to the propelling means of another finishing device which operates in tandem therewith so that the tension on the fabric will be either uniform throughout the entire finishing operations, or so that the tension will be synchronized throughout the finishing operations. 7

In most cases it will be desirable to have a uniform tension on the fabric in the multiple finishing devices, but even if it is desirable to have a greater tension in the fabric in one finishing device than another, it is at least desirable and in fact necessary that there be a synchronization between the plurality of finishing devices in regard to the tension on the fabric, as otherwise it would be difiicult, in handling knitted tubular fabric, to bring it out at the end of the operations in uniform condition as to width and length per pound, and to maintain uniformity of the knitted structure. With the present machine we are able to accomplish the desired results stated herein in a very simple and automatically operating mechanism.

Other features and advantages will be set forth in the following detailed description of our invention.

In the drawing forming part of this application,

Figure 1 shows an elevation with parts broken away, of two finishing machines arranged to operate in tandem, with intermediate means for controlling the relative speed of operation of the tandem finishing devices,

Figure 2 is a sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 1, and

Figure 3 is a sectionalview taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 2.

The fabric may be fed to the present machine directly from a drying or other machine, or the fabric may be supplied from a container i with the fabric laid therein in loose superimposed folds. The fabric is first led through several guides 2 or rollersor bars. The first finishing device includes any type of means for discharging steam onto and through the fabric and for this purpose we have shown a steam pipe 3 disposed horizontally and finishing device may be the same as the first finat right. angles to the path of travel of the fabric and just below the plane of the fabric, the pipe having a row of apertures 4 to discharge the steam so that it strikes the fabric from below and passes upwardly through it. This is a very common type of finishing device and it will be understood that as far as the present invention is concerned any special type of finishing device may be employed.

The tubular fabric is distended in the form of a fiat tube while undergoing the steaming or finishing operation by any type of interior spreader, and for the present case we have illustrated a common type of spreader which consists of a Wire frame having a loop 5 at the end. onto which the fabric first moves, this loop being followed by the two parallel arms 6 and to the forward ends of these arms is attached a cross bar or member I which is usually approximately V shape in cross section so that the smaller and leading edge lies near the bight of the two pressing rollers 8, 9 which press the flattened tube 'of fabric between them to propel the fabric from left to right in Figure 1 and also to extract any extra moisture which may be in the fabric due to condensation of the steam or other treating vapor.

The spreader remains constantly in the position shown in Figure 1 while the fabric travels continuously over it. The spreader is prevented from moving with the fabric because the cross bar I cannot pass through the bight of the rollers 8, 9 and it is prevented from moving laterally by a pair of guide rollers l9 disposed at opposite sides of the spreader and serving to engage against the spreader, and the fabric upon it, to prevent lateral displacement of the spreader and still not interfere with the travel of the fabric thereover.

The rollers H] are idiers, although they may be driven if desired. After the fabric travels through the bight of the rollers 8, 9 it passes partly around an idler II and it then passes through the means for automatically maintaining a uniform tension on the fabric and for controlling the relative speed of one of the finishing machines in order to maintain the condition herein described.

The second finishing device is arranged to operate in tandem in relaiton to the first finishing device, or in other words, it operates upon the same strip of fabric after it has passed through the first finishing device and Without requiring the winding of the fabric into a roll between the finishing operations.

It will be understood that with our invention it is possible to increase the number of finishing operations beyond two if desired, but in most cases two finishing operations are sufficient. If

' there are to be more than two finishing operations, then additional finishing devices will be provided with an automatic control device interposed between the second and third devices and operating in the same manner as the control device shown herein.

The second finishing device shown herein consists of a pipe I2 for discharging steam or vapor under the fabric as it travels over a second spreading device I3, the latter resting at one end upon the roller l4 and its forward end having a bar like the bar I engaging the propelling rollers l5, l6 adjacent their bight, and guide rollers may be provided to prevent lateral shifting of the spreader. In other words, the second ishing device except for the drive of the propelling rollers. If the fabric is only to receive two finishing operations. then as it passes through the bight of the propelling rollers I5, |'6 it may be wound upon an arbor l6 into the form of a roll l9 as is common practice.

The propelling rollers of the finishing devices are operated in the following manner and the tension on the fabric between the tandem finishing devices is preferably controlled through the following mechanism: The shaft 29 from which the power is taken to operate the finishing devices may be the shaft of a motor 2| although the power may be derived from any other source. We have shown the sprocket 22 fixed to the endmost shaft and the endless chain 23 travelling around this sprocket also travels around the sprocket 24 which is mounted on the shaft 25 of the lower propelling roller 9 of the first finishing apparatus. Thus. the power for driving the propelling rollers of the first finishing device is conveyed from the motor shaft 20 to the propelling rollers 8. 9.

There is also arranged on the motor shaft 20 another sprocket wheel 26 around which travels an endless chain 21. This chain also travels around the sprocket wheel 28 which is fixed on a shaft 29 which is shown mounted upon a standard 39 secured to the floor below the machine. On this same shaft 29 there is mounted a pulley 3| of the expansible' type, of the V type, and a belt 32 of the V type travels around this pulley and also around the pulley 33 which is mounted on the shaft 34, The expansible pulley 3| may be one of those known in the art and it may correspond with the expansible pulley l shown in our co-pending application Serial No. 83,046. The shaft 34 which carries the pulley 33 is journaled in the lower arms of a pair of levers 35 which latter are pivoted onthe shaft 36.

It will be understood that the lever 35 is duplicated at opposite sides of the machine to form a pair and the shaft 36 may be a stud shaft carried by one lever at one-side of the machine only. The shaft 36 on which the pair of levers 35 are fulcrumed, is mounted in a pair of brackets 31 mounted on the floor at opposite sides of the machine. The lower arm 38 of the lever 35 is extended below the shaft 34 where it carries a counter weight 39 which is adjustable along the arm 38. This weight is intended to partly counterbalance the weight of the upper arms 49 of the levers 35 so that these levers will operate or may be moved by very slight force. Usually the weight 39 will tend to hold the lever arms 69 in vertical position unless the levers are turned clockwise by the action of the fabric in the manner hereinafter described.

On the shaft 34 there is also mounted the sprocket wheel 4| around which engages an endless chain 42. This chain also engages around the sprocket wheel 43 which is mounted on the shaft 44 and the latter is supported by a standard 47 at the right hand end of the machine, as shown in Figure 1. There is an idler 46 mounted on an-arm 49 which is pivotally supported at 59 from the bracket fixed to the standard 41 and this idler is caused to press on the upper run of the chain 42 by means of a spring 52 having one end fixed to the arm 49 and the other fixed to the standard. This idler acts as a take-up for the chain 42 to prevent lashing of the chain. and to permit the sprocket 4| to be moved toward or from the sprocket 43 as is necessary for the swinging of the levers 35.

On the.shaft 44 to which the sprocket 43 is secured, there is another sprocket 45 around which engages the endless chain 45 and this chain also engages around the sprocket wheel 53 arranged on the shaft 54 of the propelling roller ii of the second finishing device. With the means just described power is transmitted'to the propelling rollers l5, l6 which cause the propulsion of the fabric at the second finishing device.

The strip of tubular fabric 55 between the time it is treated in the first finishing device and the time it is treated in the second finishing device, engages with a dancer roller apparatus which controls the speed of operation of one of the finishing devices or it regulates the relative speed of the finishing devices in accordance with the tautness or looseness of the fabric in order that the second finishing device will take the fabric from the first finishing device at such speeds from time to time as will maintain a uniform condition in the fabric as regards its length and width. This dancer roller device consists partly of the upwardly extending arms 40 of the levers 35, there being a number of rollers 56 mounted on the pair of arms to and extending crosswise of the machine for the fabric to engage therewith, as will be set forth.

There is an upwardly-extending arm 51 mounted on the standard 31 but this arm is preferably stationary and it also has series of rollers 58 mounted crosswise of the machine and preferably the arm 57 is duplicated at each side of the machine to form a pair with the rollers 58 disposed between the pair of arms. The rollers 58 are in parallel relation with the rollers 56 on the.lever arm and the fabric as it comes from the first finishing device is passed back and forth in alternate relation around the rollers 58 and the rollers 55 as shown in Figure l, and from the topmost roller 58 on the stationary arm 57 the fabric passes to and is propelled by the second finishing device.

We prefer to provide a weight 59 supported by a cord 88 which passes around an idler pulley [it supported on one of the arms 57 and this cord passes downwardly and extends partly around a pulley 62 fixed on the shaft 3 1 and having one end attached to the pulley so that the tendency of the weight is to produce a clockwise lead of the lever arm it in order to put a light tension on the fabric where it passes over the several rollers 58 and 55.

The weight 59 may be varied to suit fabrics of different characters.

Operation The strip of knitted tubular fabric delivered either from a machine or apparatus arranged preceding the finishing machine, or from a receptacle l, passes through the guides 2 and thence over the first spreader which spreads the fabric out in the form of a fiat tube. While the fabric is distended on the spreader, the steam or vapor discharged from the pipe 3 acts on the fabric to steam it and thus perform what is known as a finishing operation. As the fabric passes off the first spreader it passes as a flattened tube through the bight of the propelling rollers 8, 9, these rollers being driven from the motor 2! through the chain 23 and the sprocket 28.

After the fabric passes through the bight of the propelling rollers 8, 9 it passes over the idler roller H and it then begins to travel back and forth in a zigzag course around the several rollers 58 on the stationary arms 5'! and also around the rollers 56 carried by the. swinging lever arms 40 until the fabric reaches the uppermost roller 58 on the stationary arms and from there it and the fabric may then be wound upon the arbor I8. The fabric is thus treated by two finishing apparatus acting in tandem but between the two finishing operations the fabric travels through the controlling device to effect the following operations:

The weight of the lever arms 40 is preferably counterbalanced by the adjustable weight 39 so that the tendency of the lever arms will be to stand in a vertical position. However, the weight 59 acting through the cord 8| produces a slight lead tending to rock the lever arms 40 clockwise in Figure 1 or away from the stationary arms 51. This lead may be very light so that the tension built up in the fabric will not stretch it to an undesired degree. If the total tension of the fabric where it passes in a zigzag course over the rollers 58 and 56 increases it will cause the lever arms 35 to move counter clockwise in Figure 1, or toward the stationary arm 51 and to lift the weight 59 which is causing the slight lead of the lever arms 35.

The pulley 33 carried by the shaft 34 will, under the conditions last described, move from left to right in Figure l or away from the shaft 29, and this will force the flanges of the pulley 3! to move apart and for the loop of the belt 32 around this pulley to decrease. This will effect a reduction in the speed of revolution of the shaft 36 so that the sprocket ill will operate at slower speed than before and the power transmitted from this sprocket to the chain 52 and the sprocket t5 and chain 15 to the sprocket 53 will be reduced so that the rollers 55 and it will propel the fabric in the second finishing device at a lower speed than before. Thus the second finishing device will draw on the fabric at a slower speed than before, allowing the propelling rollers 8 and d of the first finishing device to catch up in the propulsion of the fabric.

On the other hand, if the fabric becomes loose around the rollers 58 and 58, the lever arms 35 will swing clockwise in Figure l and this will cause the pulley 33 to move nearer or towards the shaft 29. When this occurs, the flanges of the expansible pulley move toward each other and the shaft 34 is then driven at a faster speed than before. This increase of speed effects an increase of speed of the rollers and it; so that the fabric is propelled at a sightly greater speed in the second finishing device to prevent undue slack in the fabric in the controlling device. Thus the second finishing device is caused to move faster or slower according to the condition of the fabric where it engages the controlling device.

If it is desired to have the two finishing devices propel the fabric at the same speed, then the controlling device will cause one finishing device to be modulated in its propelling action to accord with the delivery of the fabric" from a preceding finishing device, Even if the finishing devices are so geared as to operate at different relative speeds, the control device will operate to maintain a definite synchronization between the two finishing devices.

Synchronization is old on woven goods. In knit goods, it is hard to tell how the fabric will react while being finished, as fabrics being finished one width may haveto have their lengths and widths varied to maintain the uniform finished width. This is due to the fact that the dif- 'ference in the number of stitches or tighter or looser stitch or different types of yarns or differ-. ent type of knitting machines and knitting machine sizes may be an importantfactor, or any one of them, despite the fact that all the fabrics are to be finished the same width. This, of course, is not true in woven goods. The application of tension control to woven goods is a relatively simple matter due to the rigidity of the fabric, the uniformity of woven fabrics as well as the uniformity of widths. In the usual tension roll control on woven goods there is one roller and two layers of fabric. The roll itself has its own weight and the two layers of fabric to control. This control would be worthless for knit goods and despite the fact that we have a number of rollers with a large amount of fabric to get the tension control, we also counterbalance the dancer rolls so that the weight of the dancer roll itself .does not affect the tension control of the fabric. Any change in tension effected by the conventional type of tension roll control would be an abrupt action on the knit goods cloth,

changing its propulsion too quickly and would result in one part of the fabric being moved ahead faster than the rest, which would reset in a variablewidth of the finished roll of fabric. This is one reason why feeler roll control on knit goods has previously failed. Variation in tension on the fabric is apt to result in a variation in the final finished width. Besides the balance of the dancer rollers themselves, a further balance is achieved, by maintaining an even pull of the load between the belt drive and the chain drive. In other words, it requires an extremely small amount of power to move the arms 40, because actually the pull of the belt 82 on the shaft 34 is balanced by the pull of the chain 42 and as the load is the same in both places, the lever 35 is at a balance point. A

As mentioned above, rollers 58 and 53 act as a storage place for the cloth and the number of turns of fabricas used, cut down the variable tension of the fabric to within close enough limits not to affect the knit fabric which is easily distorted. The number of fabric runs depends on the limits of control necessary for the particular operation and the fabric being handled. It is important to have a range of adjus ent and that type of adjustment to be sensi ive, quick acting and not harmful to the cloth. Variation in speeds must take place as is necessary, but gently, otherwise the finished width of the fabric on the windup roll might be too narrow or too wide for several yards or more. The plurality of layers on the dancer roll give a gentle action, and because of the fact that the tension is distributed over so much fabric, the action is instantaneous and any adjustment that might be necessary is effected before too great a change lnthe fabric, takes place which might vary the final width. Uniform widthof the windup roll is important and is easily varied as above outlined. The range of fabric on the dancer roll is from a'small amount to a large amount of knitting and works more or less as in ratio from where the variation might be, say, 100 to 1 in dancer roll control and in woven fabrics it might be 2 to 1.

The moisture extraction from the knit fabric disturbs the loops in the cloth and the width thereof and the fabric is dried in this same disturbed. condition. It is hard to bring the stitch back to its normal position as it was from the knitting machine and that is why it is hard to.

apply tandem control between two finisher may chines operating on knit goods. In woven fabrics,

of course, the variation of the variables is very small and there are very few variables which in themselves are limited, whereas in knit goods there are many variables and each variable has a very great range within itself.

Under our method the yield of the fabric, that is the yards per pound, is closely controlled and it is important that the yards of fabric per pound is established. By setting the position of the dancer roll, we can establish the tension desired. on the cloth under definite control, and thus the yards of fabric per pound can be established. In finishing knit goods in two separate finishers, this cannot be controlled so easily and as a matter of fact it is difllcult and involves guess work.

The fact that we use a lot of cloth and within a very limited area, tortuous layer formation in our dancer roll system is important. Further advantage of having two finishing machines in tandem is that only one finished edge line shows up in the finished fabric. Where there are two separate finishers, there are two creases at each side of the cloth.

The large portion of fabric over which the tension is distributed and the controlling device serves to act as a reservoir for the purpose .of creating speed changes gradually. There is enough cloth in this so-called reservoir so that the member 85 does not rise or fall too rapidly and'thus effect a too rapid change of speedwith a resulting distortion of the'i'abric.

The first and second finishing devices do not necessarily operate at'the same speed. For instance, if a knitted tubular fabric is being handled, the receiving finishing device may be operating to spread the fabric laterally and when knitted fabric is spread or stretched laterally it has a tendency to shorten in the direction of its length. In such a case the second finishing device may be taking the fabric at a lesser speed than the first finishing device is delivering it. Even in this situation the present controlling device will synchronize the two finishing machines or devices and maintain uniform tension on the fabric between the two finishing devices.

The two spreaders used in the two finishing devices may be the same size or different sizes. The elasticity of knitted goods is such that for a given finished width the spreader over which it travels is usually from one to four or five inches wider than the finished width of the fabric and depending on the construction of the fabric the fabric will finish to the desired width despite the fact that the spreader is wider. For certain fabrics in order to get the desired finished width which is difficult to attain due to the fact that the fabric must be spread laterally to a considerable extent the fabric is passed over a relatively small size spreader in the first finishing device and then over a wider spreader in the second finishing device in order to spread the the local portion of the fabric which is very de sirable where knitted fabric is being handled. Furthermore, with the present controlling device the fabric does not necessarily have to feed to the second finishing device in a taut condition but if desired it may be fed thereto under light tension or even in a loose condition, this being made possible by the control device described herein.

While we have shownthe controlling device as arranged to modify the speed of the second finishing device in order to synchronize it with the first finishing device, it will be apparent that the conditions may be reversed so that the speed of the first finishing device is modified to accord with the speed of the second finishing device, although we prefer the former arrangement.

The method which we desire to cover has been set forth in the description above. Its principal feature resides in passing the knitted tubular fabric through a plurality of finishing devices arranged in tandem and controlling the relative speed of the finishing devices by means of the fabric itself.

While we have illustrated and described a certain form in which the invention may be embodied, we are aware that many modifications may be made therein by any person skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention as expressed in the claims. Therefore, we do not wish to be limited to the particular form shown or to the details of construction thereof.

Having described our invention, what we claim is:

1. The method of continuously finishing traveling lengths of tubular fabric which comprises stretching the fabric transversely to a predetermined width. steaming the traveling fabric while in fiat stretched condition, pressing the steamed fabric, releasing the transverse stretching tension, again stretching the fabric transversely to a predetermined width, subjecting the stretched fabric in fiat condition to a second steaming, again pressing thesteamed fabric, maintaining the fabric under uniform longitudinal tension while the transverse stretching tension is released, and automatically controlling the relative speed of travel of the fabric during the successive steaming and pressing operations in accordance with the length of uniformly tensioned fabric free from transverse stretching tension.

2. The method of continuously finishing traveling lengths of tubular fabric which comprises stretching the'fabric transversely to a predetermined width, steaming the fabric while in flat stretched condition, pressing the steamed fabric, releasing the transverse stretching tension, again stretching the fabric transversely to a different width, subjecting the stretched fabric in fiat condition to a second steaming, again pressing the steamed fabric, maintaining the fabric under uniform longitudinal tension during the release of transverse stretching tension, and automatically adjusting the relative speed of travel of the fabric during the successive steaming and press ing operations in accordance with the length of the longitudinally tensioned fabric between such operations to compensate for the difference in width of the fabric in such operations.

3. Apparatus for continuously finishing traveling lengths of tubular fabric which comprises a spreader, means for steaming the fabric on the spreader, pressure rolls for pressing the fabric after it leaves the spreader, a second spreader positioned to receive fabric discharged by the presser rolls, means for steaming the fabric on the second spreader, presser rolls for pressing the fabric after it leaves the second spreader, means for individually driving the first and second presser rolls, and a device between the first mentioned presser rolls and the second mentioned spreader comprising a pair of arms each containing a plurality of rollers over which the fabricstrip passes back andforth between the arms in traveling from the first mentioned presser rolls to the second menti oned spreader, one of said arms being balanced but movable, said movable arm being connected. with said driving means to vary the relative speeds of the first and second presser rolls to maintain a constant tension of the fabric between the first mentioned presser rolls and the second mentioned spreader.

4. Apparatus for continuously finishing traveling lengths of tubular fabric which comprises a spreader, means for steaming the fabric on the spreader, presser rolls for presing the fabric fiat after leaving said spreader, a second spreader positioned to receive fabric discharged by the presser rolls, means for steaming the fabric on the second spreader, additional presser rolls for' pressing the fabric fiat after leaving the second mentioned spreader, roller means bearing against the fabric between the first presser rolls and the second spreader for maintaining the fabric in flattened condition under uniform longitudinal tension, drive means for propelling the. fabric over the first spreader, second drive means for propelling the fabric over the second spreader and means automatically controlled by movement of the roller means for regulating the relative speed of said drive means in accordance with the length of fabric between the first presser rolls and the second spreader.

5. Apparatus for continuously finishing travel- .ing lengths of knitted fabric which comprises a spreader, means for steaming the fabric on the spreader, presser rolls for pressing the fabric fiat after leaving the spreader and for propelling the fabric over the spreader, a second spreader positioned to receive fabric discharged by said presser rolls, means for steaming the fabric on said second spreader, second presser rolls for pressing the fabric which leaves said second spreader and for propelling the fabric over said second spreader, and adjustable means for regulating the relative speeds of said first mentioned and second mentioned rolls, comprising a pair of arms each containing a plurality of rollers over which the fabric strip passes back and forth between the arms in traveling from the first-mentioned presser rolls to the second-mentioned spreader, one of said arms being movable and-connected to said speed adjusting means to regulate the relative speed of said rolls, so that change in the length of the fabric strip at said arms changes the position spreader, presser rolls for pressing the fabric fiat after leaving the spreader, a second spreader positioned to receive fabric discharged by said presser rolls, means for steaming the fabric on said second spreader, second presser rolls for pressing the fabric which leaves said second spreader, drive means for propelling the fabric over one of the said spreaders, a second drive means for propelling the fabric over said second spreader, said second drive means including as driving elements an expansible pulley with V- formed driving faces and a belt with a V-formed cross-section engaging said pulley, and means for regulating the speed of said second drive means, comprising a fixed arm and a movable arm, each .of said arms containing a plurality of rollers over said expansible pulley correspondingly changes as the position of the beltchanges, thus changing the propelling speed of said second drive means to maintain a uniform tension on the fabric strip at the speed regulating means.

7. Apparatus for continuously finishing travelinglengths of tubular fabric which comprises an internal spreader stretching said fabric in flat form to a predetermined width and establishing marginal creases at the edges of said fabric, means for steaming the fabric while on the spreader, presser rolls pressing the flattened fabric, regulating means including a plurality of idlers in relatively movable groups over which the fabric passes back and forth in a series of courses without transverse stretching tension, a variable speed drive controlled by said regulating means through relative movement of said groups in response to variations in the length of fabric engaged thereby, and propelling rolls driven by said variable speed drive and adapted both to propel and press the fabric, said regulating means maintaining uniform longitudinal tension in the fabric, a second internal spreader and second steaming means intermediate said idlers and said pro-' pelling rolls, said idlers delivering the fabric to said second spreader with the marginal creases established by the first spreader in register with the edges of said second spreader.

8. Apparatus as set forth in claim 7 in which the idlers consist of rollers supported on a pair of arms, one of said arms being movable and adapted to regulate the variable speed drive.

SAMUEL COHN. JULES G. WAL'I'ER. I 

